Browsing the Bulk Aisle for Totally Custom Centerpieces

For a simple but clever idea for spicing up your centerpieces, try this: raid the bulk aisle.

All you have to do is stroll through the “natural foods” section to get a dozen ideas or more for a cool and customized centerpiece perfect for any contemporary wedding.

Start with simple glass cylinders and white votives.

Having an Italian wedding? Fill your cylinders with dried elbow macaroni in vivid colors, and nest in a tealight. Hand out gorgeous bottles of extra-virgin olive oil with customized labels as favors.

How about a brown and pink wedding, or a coffee-theme affair? Fill up with coffee beans, and tie off each cylinder with a pink satin ribbon.

For a springtime, Mad Hatter or simply whimsical event, try jellybean fillers in your wedding colors.

Dried peas are perfect for edgy pink and green weddings. Or for an eclectic black and white affair, mix northern beans with black beans.

For an autumn or christmas wedding, try nuts in the shell: hazelnuts, chestnuts, walnuts, brazil nuts. For variety, spray-paint some of them gold or silver and shuffle back in with the rest.